In conventional circular knitting machines, knitted cloth is flattened and wound on a winding roller supported by a winding unit. The winding unit revolves synchronously with the knitting machine cylinder and drives fabric delivery rolls through power transmission mechanisms which interconnect to the rotating winding unit. The knitted fabric is then wound into a flat sheet on the winding roll positioned beneath the delivery rolls. Typically, an operator manually unlocks the winding roll from a locked position relative to frame arms of the knitting machine, and removes the winding roll together with the knitted fabric wound thereon from the machine. In recent years, technology advances have enabled circular knitting machines to operate at increased speeds, particularly in those knitting machines that knit fabrics in full body size. As a result of these speed increases, the knitted fabric is wound faster and doffed in shorter cycles, creating excess and difficult work for the machine operator.